Oh, Kevin Garnett Is Still On The Celtics? That Changes Everything!

Kevin Garnett (12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Paul Pierce (15 points, 5 assists) were reunited tonight for the first time in nine games and the result was what the Greenteamers expected: a 107-96 win over the Wizards at TD Garden.

A victory against hopeless Washington (29-48 overall, 7-31 away) is nothing to beat your chest about except that the Celts (40-37 overall, 27-12 home) were repeatedly losing to teams like that the last few weeks with KG and/or Pierce out of the lineup.

Brandon Bass (20 points, 6 rebounds) had arguably his best game of the season as he shot 9 for 12 from the field and Avery Bradley scored 10 points. Boston's scoring was way more balanced than it has been in weeks, another byproduct of KG's return. All 10 Celtics that played more than one minute (sorry Terrence Williams) had six points or more. Chris Wilcox added 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, Jason Terry notched nine points and five assists, Shavlik Randolph had eight points and seven rebounds while Courtney Lee and Jordan Crawford both put up six points.

John Wall led Washington with 16 points and 10 assists. Martell Webster was the only other starter with 12 points and six rebounds. Former UConn star A.J. Price scored 15 points off the bench, Trevor Ariza added 14 points and three steals while Kevin Seraphin tossed in 10 points.

Boston is off for the next few days, they host Brooklyn (44-32, 2nd in Atlantic Division) on Wednesday (8 p.m., CSN).

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If Only Every Team In The NBA Were As Hopeless As The Washington Wizards

Thank God the Celtics only play the Wizards one more time this season and it's not until April 7 at that. These past two games between the teams have been so awful, for many reasons, that I'm happy to say Boston (2-2, 1-1 home) won't see Washington (0-3, 0-2 away) again for a long time.

Tonight at TD Garden, the C's followed the same pattern from Saturday's closer-than-it-should-be win in DC: they got up early then let the Wizards hang around for way too long. Luckily, since they are one of the worst teams in the NBA, Washington managed to crap its pants once again, allowing the Celts to escape with a 100-94 win in overtime.

Kevin Garnett led Boston with a game-high 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 14 assists and three steals while Paul Pierce had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Jason Terry finally looked like himself with 16 points off the bench and Brandon Bass added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Rookie Bradley Beal, Kevin Seraphin and Martell Webster each scored 16 points for Washington. Former UConn point guard A.J. Price had 15 points and seven assists while Chris Singelton added 14 points off the bench.

All we can hope is that once Boston starts playing some better teams, they will increase their performance level since right now through four games they've looked terrible.

Washington hit six more 3-pointers than Boston (10-4) but the Celtics prevailed because of the fact that they made 22 more free throws (28-6). The Celtics led 11-2 right away but only 21-16 after one quarter. Washington jumped ahead 42-37 at halftime. The C's got back in control with a good third quarter (29-16) yet they couldn't seal it (just like on Saturday).

The worst part is that with their last shot at the buzzer, they elected for a 3-pointer from Rondo when the score was tied at 88. You can never convince me that was the best look they could find. Bass scored five straight points in overtime, including an excellent dunk off a steal and pass by Rondo.

In a rematch of last spring's Eastern Conference semifinals (that went 7 games), the 76ers (2-2) visit Boston on Friday (7:30 p.m., CSN). They traded away Andre Iguodala to Denver and Lou Williams signed in Atlanta so Philadelphia will look much different. They have Andrew Bynum now but he has yet to play this season as he deals with his myriad injuries.

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Get used to the No. 2 or 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, the top spot isn't happening this season

Each game gets stranger for the Boston Celtics as they find new and different ways to lose (to bad and average teams) and piss down their legs at the same time.

Rajon Rondo was going to sit for a second straight game last night as they visited the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse. However, at the last second Rondo decided to play and wouldn't you know he put up 22 points and eight assists.

For the first time in weeks, Boston's defense stayed on their team bus while their offense actually carried their weight. It wasn't enough as the Pacers (33-42) beat the Celts (51-22) 107-100.

Nenad Krstic's foul trouble (5) enabled Indiana's center Roy Hibbert (26 points) to go off for a season-high point total. Danny Granger added 18 points, Darren Collison had 17 points and A.J. Price scored 15 points off the bench.

It was great to see Rondo look like himself again, with a quick first step but nice performances from Paul Pierce (23 points) and Glen Davis (20 points off the bench) were overshadowed by a lack of touches for Ray Allen (11 points, 4 for 8) and Kevin Garnett (6 points, 2 for 4 shooting).

The loss was even rougher since Chicago lost to Philadelphia last night, meaning a Boston win would have pulled them to within one game of the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics led 33-27 after the first quarter but a horrid second quarter (30-16 for the Pacers) gave Indiana a 57-49 lead. The up and down Cs were great in the third (36-24) but as usual, the wheels came off in the fourth (26-15 Pacers).

Boston shot 54.8% to Indiana's 54.5%. The Pacers made two more 3-pointers (6-4) but the Celtics were rewarded for going to the basket aggressively with 11 more made free throws (28-17). Indiana had seven more rebounds (36-29).

The road trip continues for Boston as they visit the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli all sat out last night so it's doubtful that they'll all return for Thursday night's game. The two teams had a regular season classic the only other time they met, a Celtics win at home in January but it's looking unrealistic that these two older teams have another one of those in the bag during the regular season.